


Danno

by klutzy34



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Danny loves his kids, Family, Gen, post 6x25
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 22:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7776514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klutzy34/pseuds/klutzy34
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nearly losing their Danno makes Grace and Charlie want to show him how much they love him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Danno

**Author's Note:**

> This was up once before and taken down for reasons, but I recently found it in my writing folder, reread, and wanted to toss it back up.

“Danno. Dannooooo.” 

His early afternoon drowse in the early afternoon sun coming through the windows was light enough that he felt the little hands shaking his arm in accompaniment to the cajoling for him to wake up. The last few days felt like he’d slept them away in a healing sleep so any excuse to open his eyes, to fight to stay awake a few minutes, an hour or two longer, was welcome. Danny raised the hand that wasn’t currently the focus of Charlie’s wake up assault to rub at his eyes and then opened them to see his son perched on the edge of his bed, the wide grin so reminiscent of his in childhood photographs that he felt stupid for not figuring out the paternity before - or maybe he’d just been so willfully oblivious as to avoid more heartbreak. 

On his other side, Grace sat with one knee up on the bed, tucking and retucking strands of hair behind her ear, a nervous tic that she obviously inherited from him. Her other hand rested on a small wooden rectangle on her lap, four holes in the back of an otherwise inconspicuous item. Danny reached up to grab both their hands and squeezed, his muscles feeling like limp noodles but noting significantly less twinging in his side every time he moved. “You know you two don’t have to come to this place every day,” he told them, fighting to get the words out around a yawn. “I don’t even want to come to this place every day but I’m already here.” Charlie giggled and Danny reached out to tickle his side, making him twist away and giggle harder. 

“Yeah, well, we want to, dad, so you can’t argue with us,” Grace replied, her chin tilting up slightly in innocent defiance. It was when Danny turned his attention back to her, a little more awake, that he realized Eric stood in the doorway of the hospital room, leaning against the frame. He’d never seen his nephew look so worn out, not even after pulling an all nighter at a rager, but there were dark circles under Eric’s eyes and he looked a little less like his exuberant self. The one thing that did stick out though was the smile, gentle and almost...proud? “And also,” Grace added, bringing his attention back (focus was harder with the drugs in his system, as was thinking), “Charlie and I…” She chewed her lip and instead of finishing the sentence, she simply picked up the item in her lap and held it out to Danny face up.

The Hero Dad Award  
Danno  
Love, Grace and Charlie

Danny ran his fingers over the etching on the plaque, a sudden knot in his throat making it hard for him to speak as he read and reread the words. Finally, he looked up at Grace, feeling the prick of tears in the corners of his eyes. “Gracie, you didn’t have to…”

Grace suddenly shook her head and moved closer, her nervousness forgotten as she scooped up his hand and held it tightly between hers. Charlie, taking a cue from his sister, burrowed under Danny’s other arm. He winced slightly but the twinges were worth his little boy at his side, looking up at him with an adoration that he couldn’t understand. “No, dad, we did have to. Charlie and I...last night, when we were here, we thought you should have something and...okay, I know you don’t like recognition, but you deserve it.” And now his baby girl was starting to tear up and god help him, if this continued, the Williamses were going to be sobbing messes in a damn hospital room where the prognosis was good all around. 

“We love you, Danno,” Charlie chirped at his side, as if he was aware that Danny and Grace needed a moment to gather themselves. Danny took the moment to kiss the top of that little blond head and then to pull Grace closer, kissing the top of her dark head. His kids. His wonderful, amazing, smart, loving kids, whom without his world would be a much darker, colder place. He swallowed hard and then cleared his throat. 

“I love you too, Charlie, and I love you, Monkey,” he replied, his voice hoarse. Leaving the plaque on his lap, he pulled Grace under his other arm, managing to position his body just right in the middle of the bed so he could have both kids at his side, for the moment just letting his heart swell with the pride and love he had for them. 

“I mean it, Danno,” Grace finally said softly, sniffling a little and wiping at an eye. “Sometimes we butt heads but I know you’re doing what you think is best for me. Your dad jokes are terrible,” she added with a light laugh as Danny ruffled her hair in joking rebuttal, “and you’re kinda stubborn and a grump sometimes, but we love that about you. We also love that you never give up, when we want to do something, you ask what it is and how can you help, how you won’t set limits for us because you think we can do whatever we put our minds to.”

And just like that, the lump in his throat got a little bigger and a lone tear freed itself from a tear duct and rolled down his cheek, leaving Danny unable to wipe it away. Not that he cared. When it came to his children, he wore his heart on his sleeve and he was proud for people to know that. “You’re strong and brave and smart and a bada…” Grace caught herself, looking up at Danny, who arched an eyebrow at her. 

“You’re a superhero!” Charlie chimed in, pulling free to thrust his arms out in front of him like Superman.

“Only no cape, no superpowers, no supertech,” Grace stated in agreement. “You’re a normal, everyday superhero and we love you for that too.” She rest her head against his shoulder again. “You taught us to give, to love, to be the best person we can be while knowing we never will be or should never be perfect. To fight for what we believe is right. You help us carry our burdens and never expect anything for what you do.” When had his little girl become so wise? Danny couldn’t help but just _listen_ as she spoke. He’d always known in some form, really, but hearing her speak with the wisdom of a woman two times, three times her age, it took him back and made him realize she was truly growing up. 

“You’re the best dad,” Grace stated.

“And an awesome cop,” Charlie added, the four year old stumbling over the word ‘awesome’ apparently picked up from either Grace or Eric. 

“No, I’m the luckiest dad,” Danny said softly as he gathered his two kids into a big hug, squeezing them tightly in the biggest bear hug he could manage, “with two wonderful kids. I couldn’t, would never ask for better. Thank you.” Reluctantly letting the both go, he picked up the plaque again and gazed at it lovingly. “You know what? With this kind of thing comes celebration. Grace, grab my wallet out of the bag in that cupboard...right, that one there. Take the money and go buy a bunch of candy bars down the hall, whatever you want, okay?” 

As Grace located his wallet and then grabbed Charlie’s hand, the two slipping out the door and heading down the hallway, Eric finally entered the room and sunk down in the chair beside Danny’s bed. “I don’t think you’re allowed to have that much sugar yet, Uncle D,” he said, the small smile from earlier becoming that big grin that Danny was familiar with.

Danny lifted a hand to wave him off. “It’s not for me, it’s for them,” he said, then settled a little farther down in bed, blinking wearily at Eric. “You know, I may be on the good stuff right now, but I know that a fourteen year old and a four year old cannot possibly have enough money to come up with this on their own, the wonderful and unexpected present that it is,” he added, motioning to the plaque. His expression softened. “Thank you.” 

Eric rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck. “Grace called me and told me what they wanted to do,” he said, dropping his hand to shrug, staring at Danny’s hand on the bed instead of making eye contact. “I mean, yeah, you’re not the kind of guy who expects that kind of thing because you’re all about doing the job and what’s best for them, well, what you’ve done for me too, but sometimes, you gotta hear it,” he explained, spreading out his hands. “You donated bone marrow and part of a liver within a year, Uncle D, put your life on the line with Five-0 often, then you make sure you’re there for Grace and Charlie. And you kicked me in the ass, made me become someone. Now I have a job I love, a reason to get up in the morning other than pretty girls, which is still not a bad reason.” 

Groaning, Danny rubbed his hands over his face. “You’re such a putz sometimes,” he said, dropping them back to his sides and favoring his nephew with a genuine smile, “but more often, you’re a nephew that I’m damn proud of.” He motioned for him to come closer and Eric obeyed instantly, springing out of the chair and moving closer to be wrapped up in a bear hug from Danny, his uncle heartily patting him on the back. “You’re a good kid, Eric, and I love you,” Danny said softly, then finally let him go, just in time for Grace and Charlie to return, arms loaded up with candy. 

Danny blinked. “How much money did I have in my wallet?” he asked as Charlie dumped his haul on the bed, mouth already bearing chocolate stains. 

Grace grinned at him as she handed a Snickers to Eric, who eagerly tore into it and bit off a mouthful like a man who hadn’t seen food in days. “Enough,” she replied sweetly, dumping her pile with Charlie’s. Danny stared at it, then sighed and shook his head. 

“You only live once, right?” he said. To make room, he pulled himself up a little farther with immense effort. He hesitated as he started to lay the plaque aside, rereading it once more and smiling. He had some thinking to do, where it would go. Home, office. Setting it on the bedside table, he made sure it was propped up so anyone who entered the room could see it. 

_My kids gave me this. My kids that I love, would do anything for, and thank god they know it. My kids are the best._ It was nice to know that even when he didn’t need it or want it really, the appreciation was still there. He felt like he was going the right direction in life, making the best choices he could, a part of something that thrived around him, that wanted him there, that acknowledge what he could do. It wasn’t so much the appreciation as just knowing that if anything ever happened to him, someone, someone _s_ would remember good about him. 

He watched his two kids divvying up their new chocolate supply, then picked up the remote at his side. “All right, let’s see if we can find some cartoons.”


End file.
